


Checkered Past

by XWings_and_History



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: X-Wing Series - Aaron Allston & Michael Stackpole, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-22
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26602384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XWings_and_History/pseuds/XWings_and_History
Summary: Cadet Poe Dameron meets with General Wedge Antilles and finds some surprisingly similarities in their past.
Kudos: 7
Collections: Rogue Podron Made Us Do It





	Checkered Past

Poe Dameron was uncomfortable. This was not a new sensation to him. He has been at Skystrike Academy for just over a month, and his arrival had immediately been followed by a harsh, overly-shouty introduction to military life. His hair, growing back from its initial buzzcut, was still shorter than he had ever worn it. His dress uniform, which he wore as he marched down the hall to the Superintendent's office, was equal parts snug and itchy (to say nothing of the color - _Cyan? Really?_ ). Worst of all, Poe had no real idea what he was walking in to.

Nor would he have time to figure it out. Upon reaching the end of the hall, Poe saluted the NCO secretary that sat at the desk outside the Supe's office. The Mon Cal sergeant returned his salute, then swiftly ushered Poe through the door.

The Superintendent's office was about as spacious as the spartan conditions of Skystrike would allow, and was not as richly decorated as Poe had supposed. A tropical-looking fern sat in a pot in one corner. A few paintings were scattered on the walls, including one depicting the Academy - an imposing tower balanced above a hoverpod - with two X-Wings performing a fly-by. Poe's eyes were immediately drawn, however, to a large frame on the right wall of the room. Inside was section of a starfighter's hull plating, decorated with a dizzying number of spacecraft silhouettes - kill markers accrued over a long career in the cockpit. First came a block of outlines of fightercraft of various types, mostly TIE-series ships. Beneath the large block of fighters sat rows of markers for capital ship kills. On either side of the kill board loomed a rendition of the Empire's two Death Stars. 

General Wedge Antilles rose as Poe entered. The young cadet, more nervous than he thought he would be, saluted. The general, clad in a beige day uniform that looked significantly more comfortable than Poe's dress cyans, returned the gesture, then motioned for Poe to take a seat. Poe did so, noting that his chair looked substantially more comfortable than the - _Oh man, is that an old ejector seat? -_ that the general was sitting in.

The general spoke first. "Cadet Dameron, welcome. I'm glad to see you got through Rancor Barracks," Antilles said, referring to the rigorous weeks of military induction and basic training Poe had just endured. "How'd it go for you?"

Poe considered for a beat before answering. He knew bravado wasn't the way to go - the man in front of him had taking on absolutely everything the Empire and its successors could throw at him. But he knew from reputation that General Antilles would not be impressed with a rote, dispassionate answer, either. "I wouldn't say it was fun, sir," Poe settled on, "but I see the value in it. My cohort has a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and going through something that took us all out of our comfort zones brought us closer together." 

Antilles nodded thoughtfully, and Poe couldn't shake the sense that the man was looking through him as he gave his answer. "Very good. Very good. Genuine, without trying to overtly sweet talk me. I hope this means we can talk honestly."

Recent experience had taught Poe that, when confused, the best response was merely to pause a beat and ask "Sir?" Still, Poe suspected he knew what this meeting would be about, and he felt a tendril of dread curl through his insides.

"I try to read the files of all of our incoming cadets. I was happy to see your name; I didn't know your parents well, but your mother flew on the wing of my best friend at Endor, and we ran into each other a few times over the years after. I was sorry to hear that she passed." Wedge sighed. "Which made it all the more surprising that your file included a New Republic Security Bureau report. Heavily redacted, of course, but it raises some questions."

Poe felt hollow. He, his father, and L'ulo had worked out a deal with the New Republic Security Bureau had worked out a deal with the local NR authorities. Poe's efforts to save New Republic personnel and role in destabilizing the Spice Runners - _inadvertent though it kinda was_ \- had been, with some negotiating and old favor-calling, deemed enough to make Poe's time with the Spice Runners something of a legal draw. Poe would not face charges for the crimes he had been an accessory to, provided he pass along all the information he had on the gang and never contacted them again. Since Poe was still a year away from legal majority, there would be no criminal record held against him. Still, Poe had never tested the deal off of Yavin before. Now, he supposed, it would be enough to get tossed out of the Academy by one of his heroes.

Poe straightened to answer, but Antilles held up his hand. "Let me ask you something before you launch into an answer I'm sure you've rehearsed to some degree. I saw you looking at my kill board before. It was a gift from my squadron when I retired from combat flying. I keep it for them, not as a trophy of the people I shot down. But you know, my first kill isn't on there. Do you know why?"

Poe thought. "I knew you were an Imperial cadet who defected. You got mentioned a lot in programs about accepting former Imperials into the Republic. Did you ever see combat with them?"

The general smiled. "I suppose that's comforting. Honestly, I never viewed myself as an Imperial. I joined to with an intention defect, and was lucky enough to get out before I even finished training here." He indicated the station around them. "No, my first kill was a pirate ship whose crew had just murdered my parents. I wasn't in Rebel service, or even a formal part of a smuggling gang yet. I'm not entirely proud of it."

Poe nodded, absorbing. This was not part of the Wedge Antilles backstory he was familiar with. "My condolences, sir. For all of it." A detail clicked into place in Poe's head. "Sir, did you say you weren't a smuggler _yet?_ "

Wedge nodded. "I crewed with a man named Booster Terrik. He's the best man I know when he's caring to his loved ones, but could be brutal when it came to his business. We ran some guns for to the Rebellion, but more often we dealt with trade goods and spice. Still, I can't pretend we were doing a lot of good in the galaxy except when we helped the Rebellion."

Poe nodded, thinking. "Is that why you've stayed in as long as you have? Did you feel you had a something to make up for?"

Wedge shook his head. "I bit at first, yes, but it was pretty hard to feel a lot of guilt at breaking Imperial law. I suppose it's more that I wanted to do some good, and even before the Death Star it was clear to me that meant taking down the Empire. I suppose things, thankfully, aren't as clear cut for you." The general met Poe's gaze. "One of the things I have always loved about the Rebellion is that we were never interested in the mistakes someone had made in the past. So long as they were here with us, ready to put their lives on the line to bring down the Empire, they were welcome. As long as I have this command, that's the standard the school will operate on. What you feel you have to atone for, or even what you choose to tell people about your past, is up to you."

**Author's Note:**

> This was rattling around in my head even before I read Freefall, but that book really gave me the push I needed to write it. I feel it was better in my head, but I just wanted to get it done.


End file.
